Comfort in your arms
by Tara4
Summary: Summer holidays and something bad happens to Draco...He turns to Hermione for help Read and review
1. bleeding on my doorstep

~*~* Comfort in your arms ~*~*~  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own these character, they are JK Rowling's  
  
A/N: I am sorry if Draco seems a little off charater in this fic, but you have to remember that some thing has happened to   
him (you wont find out what until another chapter) and he is pretty messed up.  
  
Oh Yeah, and it is coming into Australian winter, flames will be used to start the fire.  
  
********************  
  
Malfoy ran through the deep scrub of the forest outside his house, the silver moonlight lighting his way to safety. He could  
still hear his fathers screams echoing through his body. He ran as fast as he could, doging the tree branches and rocks   
laying across the path. He had to get away from Malfoy manor. He had to get away from his hateful father.   
  
Draco reached to dirt road on the other side of the dense forest and looked around nervously. What was going to happen? What   
could he do? Where could he go? He had no idea. but he pulled out his wand and did the only thing that he could have done. He  
hailed a knights bus.  
  
*****  
  
Hermione layed on her bed and read the muggle beauty magizine. Usually she never would have wasted her time reading something  
so silly but it was the summer holidays and she had nothing better to do. She had planned to go to the Burrow for the last   
week of the holidays, but other than that, she had no plans. It was the first week of freedom and she had to admit that she   
was bored, there was nothing to do. Hermione missed her friends, she missed Ron and Harry and Ginny.  
  
She yawned and closed the magizine in front of her and layed her head down on a near by pillow ans soon, she was asleep.  
  
When Hermione awoke again, it was dark outside, the moonlight shone through her bedroom window and across her face, giving   
her hair a heavenly glow. She smiled and just stared out of the window. She had no intention of gettin up off of her soft,   
cosy bed. She was to lazy and the moon was calling to her.  
  
But some one was not going to let her plans of nothingness happen, but the door bell interupted her plans. Her parents were   
in France for a convention and had left Hermione at home alone. She groaned and sat up on her bed, rubbing the sleep out of   
her eyes.   
  
The doorbell sounded again as Hermione swung her legs over the side of her bed. By the time Hermione had made it out of her   
room and down the hall to the front door, her impatient visitor had rung to bell again.  
  
"Alright, Alright, i am coming" She exclaimed as she unlocked the door, swinging it open. She had to rub her eyes, because   
she was sure that she was seeing things.  
  
There on her door step...was Draco Malfoy.  
  
*****  
  
"What do you want Malfoy" Hermione exclaimed when she realised who it was standing on her doorstep. He didn't look like the   
Malfoy that she went to school with. This Malfoy was paler than usual, and he looked alot weaker. Hermione first impulse was   
to slam the door on his face, but she knew that she couldn't. He looked as though he was in trouble, and as much as one side  
of her brain was begging her to shut the door, the other half, the human Gryffindor side was telling her that he needed her  
help.  
  
"Granger, I am sorry, but I had no where else to go" Draco mumbled weakly and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.   
He held his hand out to catch himself as he collapsed onto the doorframe.   
  
"Malfoy, what's going on" She asked as she took his waist and moved him into her house, she placed him gently on the couch   
and tried to make him as comfortable as possible.  
  
"It is a long story Granger" He whispered. He looked so scared, he must have been through a lot.  
  
"Draco, you are paler than usual" She observed and ran his hand along his forehead. "and you are cold"  
  
"I am fine Hermione, I just.. I am sory I came here" Draco said as he stood up. He groaned and collapsed back onto the chair.  
Hermione couldn't help but be concerned for the Slytherin that was sitting on her couch.  
  
"No Malfoy, You are not leaving" She exclaimed and helped him adjust himself on the chair, she pulled her hand away from his  
chest to see it thin coating of blood on her fingers. "You are bleeding" she whispered  
  
"Am I" He mumbled, pain lingering in his voice. He had not realised that he was in pain until Hermione mentioned it. He looked  
down at his stomach and chest to see a few major cuts, slashed across his creamy skin. Finally, he let the pain take over him  
and he shut his eyes.  
  
*****  
  
Hermione stripped off Malfoy's coat and glanced down at his tight black shirt, which was ripped and dotted with blood. He had  
passed out on the couch and Hermione had quietly half dragged, half carried him up the stairs to her bedroom. No he was lying  
on the bed as she was examining his cuts. She dipped a wash cloth in water and carefully cleaned a cut on his side. The cold  
water on his skin must have woken him up for he opened his eyes slowly and looked around the room.  
  
"What's going on? Where am I?" Draco asked as he tried to sit up, after wincing in pain, Hermione pushed him back down onto   
her bed.  
  
"I don't know what is going on, But you are at my house, you came here, and you are pretty cut up. I am going to clean some   
of these cuts for you" Hermione replied soothingly.  
  
"Why are you being so nice to me Granger" He asked as she dipped the wash cloth into the water again.  
  
"Because I am human...I couldn't just leave you on my door step to bleed to death...ok, I could of, but I didn't want to   
clean up the mess" Hermione attempted to joke, but Draco was to busy watch her hand cleaning one of his smaller wounds. She   
accidently bumped another cut.  
  
"Ouch, watch It Granger" he spat through clenched teeth.  
  
"Sorry" She replied "Is this shirt wrecked?" She asked  
  
"Yeah, why" Draco questioned, but Hermione didn't give him time to reply fully. She took two peices of his shirt and tugged   
them, ripping his shirt and revealing his nicely build chest. He had a few cuts and scrathes on his chest and sides.  
  
"Shit Malfoy, what happened to you?" She asked  
  
"I dont remember" He whispered truthfully.  
  
"Hey, it's ok, we'll get you cleaned up and some food and then you are going to stay the night" Hermione offered  
  
"Granger, I think you have forgotten who I am" Draco told her.  
  
"I remember who you are Malfoy, and don't worry, I still hate you...nothing has changed" Hermione convinced  
  
"Good, just as long as we still hate each other" He groaned as she carefully cleaned another cut.  
  
"You are such a wimp" She grinned after he winced and groaned.  
  
"I am not" He retorted  
  
"Well, how would your father react knowing that you cant even take a cut cleaning" Hermione asked. Draco tensed up, he was   
begining to remember what had happened to him.  
  
"What?" Hermione asked  
  
"Nothing...just dont mention Lucius for a while" He told her and she nodded, strangly understanding that he didn't want to   
talk about it. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his upper body.  
  
"What are you doing Granger" He asked, shocked.  
  
"I am helping you sit up so that I can but the bandage on you" She explained as she pulled him forward, sitting him up right.  
She carefully began to wrap his ribs in a white bandage.  
  
"Umm, thank you Granger, for everything" Draco mumbled  
  
"It ok, just dont go telling people" Hermione smiled "Do you need help standing up?" Hermione asked, Draco nodded and she   
hoisted him up. She care fully took most of his wait on her shoulders and walked him out of her room, down the hall and then  
to the kitchen, she sat him in the chair.  
  
"Do you want some thing to eat?" Hermione asked, opening the fridge and looking around for some food.  
  
"No" He mumbled, Hermione turned back to the table and took a seat across from him. She hesitantly reached out her hand to   
stroke his.  
  
"Want to tell me what happened?" Hermione asked. Draco just shook his head, and then let out a silent sob. He buried his head  
in his hands and let out another sob. Hermione had no idea what she should have done. Here was Draco Malfoy, he mortal enemy,  
crying, hurt and vaunerable at her kitchen table. She stood and moved to the other side of the table, taking a seat beside  
him. Hermione carefully ran her hand over his hair and then down his cheek. He sniffled back another cry and then threw   
himself into her arms. She tensed as he sobbed into her shoulder then she stroked his back soothingly.  
  
This was to weird  
  
********************  
  
I hope you enjoyed...  
  
Sorry about the spelling  
  
Look out for next chapter. 


	2. The Malfoy/Granger truce

Yay another chapter!!!  
  
Here we go, one more time, every body's feeling fine, here we go (yes yes yes here we go, This fic has got the flow)  
  
Sorry couldn't help myself...  
  
DISCLAIMER: I dont own, no harm, no foul (I never really understood that saying)  
  
A/N: Heeellllllow, I am cray zee 2 nite!!! hope u enjoy  
*********************  
  
The bright sunlight shone through the window and across Draco's body. His eyes threatened to flutter open and he strained to  
keep them closed. He didn't feel right, for some reason that morning he felt unfamiliar to himself, almost as though he   
didn't belong in his own skin. Draco went to roll over but groaned, a pain shooting across his ribs and stomach. His eyes   
opened and he looked across the room. Abruptly, he sat up, and his body screamed in pain, he looked around the room that he   
had never seen before and tried to remember where he was and how he had got there.   
  
He looked around the room...it was a girls room, he could tell it was a girls room. It was decorated in a light rose colour   
and was cluttered very feminine things. Draco looked at the bookshelf on the opposite side of the room and squinted to read   
the titles of the leather bound books. He sighed in relief, they were Hogwarts books, so at least he was in the home of a   
witch or a wizard, maybe one he knew. He couldn't remember how he got to where he was, all he remembered was leaving his own  
house.  
  
Draco swung his legs over the side of the bed and carefully shifted his weight onto his legs. He moved to the desk and looked  
for more clues as to where he was. His legs were cramped and he was having trouble moving freely. Supporting his weight on   
the desk in front of him, he dug around some of the parchments on the desk. A photograph feel out of one of the books and he  
picked it up and focused on the people in it.  
  
The photo, which was a muggle photo (because the people were not moving) was of Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Harry   
Potter at Kings cross station. That meant only one thing...  
  
...He was at Hermione's.  
  
He couldn't believe it. He knew that he must have brought himself to her house, but he didn't understand why. He didn't even  
remember it happening. All he remembered was the knight's bus, and even that was blurry to his mind. Draco turned and moved  
back to the bed, a sudden wave od dizziness hitting him.   
  
What was going on? He wished that he remembered what had happened but he knew he couldn't. He shut his eyes and took a deep   
breath, begging himself to remember what had been so bad that he believed he had no choice but to turn to a mudblood for   
help. Footsteps echoed on the stairs and Draco turned on his side to look at the door. What was going to happen if Hermione   
came in, would she treat him badly because he came to her for help? Would she pity him?   
  
"Malfoy, are you awake?" Hermione asked after she had knocked on the door, Draco groaned loudly, not trusting his voice. The  
door knob turned slowly and Hermione opened the door a few inches at a time.  
  
"How did you sleep?" She asked as she crossed to the dresser on the other side of the room, she opened the top draw and   
pulled out some clothes. She moved to a another draw and removed more clothing. Draco watched her as she collected the items  
from around the room.  
  
"You ok Malfoy?" She asked when he didn't answer her.  
  
"I am sorry I came here, I am going to leave" he replied and stood, only to over balance and fall onto the bed again.  
  
"Dont be so silly Malfoy, you cant even stand up staight" Hermione almost laughed at him.  
  
"Well, I am not going to stay here" He replied and stood once more, this time slowly so that he didn't collapse.  
  
"Oh, really, you have some where else to go?" Hermione asked, Draco looked at her and the shook his head.  
  
"That is what I thought, listen, I am ok with you staying here until you get better, you have no where else to go and with   
you all broken and every thing, I am not going to kick you out onto the street, no matter how much I hate you." She began and  
the sat down on the bed with him. "You trusted me enough to come here for help, and now I think that you should trust me   
enough to stay here at least until you get better"  
  
"Ok, I'll stay, only because I have no where else to go, and I cant go home...And I am leaving as soon as I can" Draco told   
her  
  
"That is if I dont kick you out first" Hermione joked and stood, retrieving her clothes and moving to the door. "I am going   
to go have a shower, if you can get yourself out of bed and down stairs i will cook some breakfast" She replied and then   
left the room. Draco collapsed back onto his pillow. He could not believe had agreed to stay there.  
  
*****  
  
By the time Draco had woken himself up enough to go down stairs, the smell of bacon was wafting through the house. He slowly  
made his way down the stairs and then stood in the doorway, watching Hermione at the stove. He wished he knew why she was   
being so nice to her. Hermione turned and shot Draco a weird sort of smile.  
  
"Well, I have to say that you are one of the most laziest people I have ever met, I took forever in the shower this morning,  
and you took that long to get out of bed" She joked.  
  
"Well, you said so yourself, I am broken" He smiled back as she placed some bacon and eggs on his plate.  
  
"Can I ask you are question?" Draco asked  
  
"Sure" She replied and sat across from him.  
  
"Why are you being so nice to me?" He asked  
  
"We went over this last night, you apealed to my human side" Hermione replied.  
  
"But at school, you hate me" He reminded her  
  
"Truer words have never been spoken, and I still have an intense hate for you Malfoy, but here you are, in a world full of   
mudbloods, and you needed my help, it would have been wrong of me to just leave you on your own when you needed me the most.   
So, i am calling a truce, I will be civil to you, if you be civil to me, I am offering you a place to stay for as long as you  
need it as long as you never call me mudblood ever again, you treat me with respect...the respect that I deserve, and I will   
make sure that you dont die in the big bad muggle world" She informed him  
  
"I guess I agree to the truce" Draco smiled and offered his hand to her to shake, she shook and then grinned.  
  
"Are you cold?" Hermione asked, still with a silly grin on her face.  
  
"No, why would I be?" He asked, confused  
  
"You are only wearing boxer shorts" She informed him, Draco looked down at himself and then blushed in a very un-malfoy   
manner. He had not realised that he was indeed only wearing his black silk boxer shorts. His ribs were still bandaged but   
other that that, he was scantly dressed. He smirked across the table as Hermione laughed at him.  
  
"Umm, I couldn't find my other clothes" He explained weakly, she smiled at him and pushed a pile of clothes across the table  
to him.  
  
"They are my dad's, they should fit you, you are both about the same size" Hermione explained, Draco stiffly stood up and   
slipped the pants on, he put on the white business shirt but didn't bother to do up the buttons.  
  
"So...where are your parents?" Draco asked  
  
"They are in France for a convention, they wont be back for a few weeks." She explained to him  
  
"Why didn't you go with them?" Draco asked "I thought you loved France"  
  
"I do, I do love France, I am being punished" Hermione explained sadly  
  
"What could the perfect miss Granger have possibly done to make her parents go to France with out her?" Draco asked as he   
turned back to is breakfast.  
  
"They found out that I was going to join the army to fight Voldemort" She told him, he nodded understandingly.  
  
"I guess that is bad, my dad would go crazy about that to" Draco replied and Hermione smiled.  
  
"Hey, finish up your breakfast, I am going to give you a lesson on muggles today" She smiled and went to clean her plates.   
For the second time that morning, Draco wondered why he had gotten himself into.  
  
********************  
  
yip ya (yes, i did say yip ya)  
  
hope yo enjoyed it, review for me  
  
I'll update soon. 


	3. Just a shopping trip (it's all about the...

DISCLAIMER: I don't own them. I love them, but I don't own them  
  
A/N: Does any one else think that Mc Donalds is trying to hard with their new tastes menus, I mean, if I want indian food,   
i will go to an indian restraunt, not fricken Maccas (sorry, I needed to Rant)   
  
********************  
  
"Where are you taking me?" Draco asked as they walked down the footpath of Hermione's street.  
  
"I am taking you grocery shopping" Hermione told him.  
  
"Grocery shopping! Dont you have house elves for that?" Draco asked, Hermione bit her lip and stopped herself from saying   
any thing about elve rights.  
  
"Muggles don't imprison elves for slave labour, muggles dont even know there is such a thing as a House elf" She replied  
  
"So, who does all of the work?" Draco asked, Hermione could have hung him, was he being this stupid on purpose, just to get a  
rise out of her, or did he honestly not know.  
  
"Oh, come on Malfoy, you should know some of this, these people don't know any thing about how easy it is to use magic. Some   
familys still have butlers and maids, but they are usually the rich families" Hermione explained  
  
"So my family would have a butler or a maid?" Draco asked, his smugness taking over him again.  
  
"No...your family isn't rich in this world, you may have billions of galleons back there, but here, we have different money,  
you wouldn't be able to buy any thing" Hermione explained, she was happy. She could tell that inside that head of his, the   
cogs were working over time untill the realisation hit her...she was more powerful in this world than he was.  
  
"Oh, thats not fair" he groaned as they entered the supermarket. Hermione took a trolley from the trolley bay and then took   
the shopping list out of her pocket. She held the trolley out for Draco to take.  
  
"What?" He asked, turning his nose up in a very snobish Malfoy way.  
  
"You push the trolley, you can lean your weight on it since you are still injured" She explained, taking on of his hands and  
clamping it onto the handle of the trolley. She began walking along side of the trolley as they made their way to the fruit   
and vegetables. Draco looked around him, taking in his souroundings, he had hardly ever been in the muggle world let alone   
in a muggle supermarket.  
  
"What is that?" Draco asked, pointing to the smally yellow vegetables.  
  
"That's squash...I thought you would have known that" Hermione replied as she took a bag of apples off of the shelf.  
  
"Two words Hermione, House elf" Draco shot beck, Hermione smiled  
  
"Do you like bananas?" Hermione asked  
  
"Umm, yeah...what's that" Draco replied, pointing at a collection of herbs and spices  
  
"You really do depend on those elves of yours dont you....that is parsley, basil and I am not sure what that is, but they   
need to chuck it out because it is all slimy" Hermione explained, turning up her nose at the gross produce. They continued   
throught all of the vegetables and into the first aisle...Breakfast cereals.  
  
"Ok, now this is my favourite aisle, this holds all of the sugar filled, artifically flavoured and coloured early morning   
treats also know as cereal, but they are not only for the morning mind you, it is a muggle custom to, on lazy days, eat   
them in the afternoon" Hermione explained and then blushed slightly, Draco was laughing at her.  
  
"That is so funny, you are like a Weasley twin in a Joke shop" Draco smiled, and Hermione grinned along. While they were at   
Hogwarts the previous year, the sayings 'Weasley twin in a joke shop' and 'Oliver Wood in quality quidditch supplies' had   
become popular, Hermione had often heard Draco say the Wood one, but this was the first time she had heard him make reference  
to Rons Brothers.  
  
"Any way, what cereal are we going to get?" Hermione asked and went back to looking at all of the boxes.  
  
"This one?" Draco asked meakly, holding out a box of apple jacks.  
  
"Hell no Draco, put that down before I hex you" Hermione smiled and pulled the box out of his hand, returning to to the shelf.  
  
"Why are you so damn touchy about your cereal?" Draco asked  
  
"When you spend a whole school year eating that crappy bland porride, which, by the way, screams 'Throw me at snape', you   
need sugar in your diet" Hermione replied and Draco started laughing again.  
  
"You are so different than what you are at school" He told her  
  
"Good different or bad different?" She asked him  
  
"Good different" Draco replied. Hermione grinned at him in a silly way and then went back to the boxes of cereal.  
  
"Hey, Hermione, do you take offence to this?" Draco asked, picking up a box with a cartoon witch on it. It was a cartoon of   
a sterio typical witch, green hair, pointy hat, yellow teeth and a big hairy wort on the end of it's nose.  
  
"No...cos I dont look like that" Hermione smiled  
  
"True, it is more like Pansy Parkinson on a good day" Draco replied, returning them to a shelf.   
  
"I thought you were dating Pansy" Hermione replied cassually. Draco laughed hysterically.  
  
"Yeah, right...She is like a lost little dog, she wont leave me alone, And I think she is stalking me as well, she always   
seems to know where I am, so dont be surprised if she turns up on your doorstep" Draco explained.  
  
"Dont worry, I'll slam the door in her face" Hermione smiled before finally choosing a box and throwing a box into the   
trolley. The moved through the other sections of the supermarket, stopping again in the cosmetics aisle.  
  
"Why do they have so many shampoo's?" Draco asked  
  
"cos there is different hair types, Like I need one to keep the frizz down, you would probably need one for extremely   
bleached hair..." Hermione began to explain  
  
"Excuse you, I do not bleach my hair, this colour is one hundred percent natural" He exclaimed and now it was Hermione's   
turn to laugh  
  
"yeah, ok...what ever Draco, thousands wouldn't believe you, but I do" She smiled sarcasticlly.  
  
"What, you dont believe me?" He asked  
  
"I believe that is your natural eye colour, but other than that...keep dreaming" she smiled and then picked up a shampoo for   
reducing frizz. She walked towards the check outs.  
  
The girl behind the check out counter was flirting with Draco. Hermione kept looking between the two of them and when it was  
finally time to go, Hermione had to drag Draco out of the line of vision of the girl.  
  
"That check out chick was checking you out" Hermione told him as they walked back towards Hermione's house.  
  
"Really" Draco asked, looking back towards the store.  
  
"Yeah, any way...lets get this stuff back to the house" Hermione smiled and quickened the pace.  
  
*****  
  
After Hermione and Draco unpacked the groceries, Hermione gave Draco a quick tour of her house and moved him into a guest   
bedroom ("I want my room back dang nabit").  
  
"Draco" Hermione began as they moved down the stairs to the kitchen to prepare dinner.  
  
"Yes" He asked  
  
"Umm...I just wanted you to know that I had a great day today, just hanging out with you" Hermione told him, he nodded.  
  
"Yeah, it was great learning more about you" Draco replied  
  
"And I was getting lonely here all by myself" She added  
  
"Friends?" He asked, holding out his hand  
  
"Friends" She replied, shaking it firmly.  
  
********************  
  
I'll update soon 


	4. Sleepless nights

Hello!!!  
  
DISCLAIMER: I own Draco Malfoy, He is mine, all mine MWAH HA HA HA HA HA TE HE HE no i dont, these character belong to JK   
Rowling. She owns Draco Malfoy, not me....boo hoo hoo  
  
A/N: Fresh to you on a little then 6 hours sleep... any way, enjoy  
  
********************  
  
He woke with a start, bolting upright in bed and breathing heavily, his clothes wet with sweat. Draco had had a dream, a   
dream retelling the events of the night before, a night that he knew he would never be able to erase from his memory. No  
matter how many good memories, how many happy things he tried to rememebr, they all reminded him of that night. A dream he   
was really trying to forget.  
  
Draco sighed and collapsed back onto the bed. He took some comfort in the fact that Hermione was asleep in the next room,   
he knew that with the new truce they had called, he could always go to her for help.  
  
He shut his eyelids again and begged himself to go back to sleep, but the closed lids only worked as small screnes for his   
memories to be projected onto. He groaned, he was both physically and emotionally tired and he needed as much sleep as   
possible (especially since Hermione turned out to be such a fun person to hang out with). But he knew the sleep would not   
come to him, he knew that he would lay there for the rest of the night, reliving the night before. He needed to get out of   
there, he needed to get out of the room, which walls felt like they were closing in on him.   
  
Still shaky on his feet, he stood and moved to the bathroom across the hall. The bright light from the globe hurt his eyes   
and he took a few minutes to adjust. The mirror seemed to be beckoning him, seemed to be calling him to it. At his own home,  
his mirror did talk to him, and it always had flattering things to say, (it didn't matter if Draco looked like shit, the   
mirror would alway say that he was sexy) so It was quite a shock when Draco peered into the muggle mirror and saw himself.   
He was paler than usual, he looked skinnier, even though he knew he couldn't be, and he looked sick. He was a shell of the   
Draco he rememebered, his eyes being the only thing that reminded him that he was him. He stroked his cheek and looked deep   
into his own eyes. Even he could see the hurt and pain in them. The pain was all to familiar, because it was ripping at his   
heart.  
  
A tear escaped him, and he tried to hold back a flood of them. He couldn't just cry when ever he had a problem, he   
couldn't just break down and sob like a little girl when ever his life didn't go his own way. He wasn't brought up that way,  
he was brought up seeing tears as a sign of weakness. Well, then he was weak, because he sank to the bathroom floor and   
cried. He cried until all of his tears were dried up, he cried until his stomach hurt and he could hardly breathe.  
  
He needed to talk about it, he needed to tell Hermione what had happened to him, he wanted her to understand him, and hold   
him as he cried as she had the first night. He needed to feel the comfort of her arms, the comfort of knowing that she cared,  
that some where out there, some one cared.  
  
The cold tile floor felt warmer on his feet as he left the bathroom. He had stopped crying and made a dirrect path to   
Hermione's bedroom door. It was early morning, so he knew that she would not be awake. Pushing the door open slowly, he   
slid into the room.  
  
The moonlight eluminated the room, shining across Hermione's face. Draco couldn't help but think of how beautiful and   
peaceful she looked when she was asleep.  
  
In a split second decision, Draco decieded not to wake her. But instead sat on the bed with her. She was lying on her stomach,  
hugging a pillow to her side. For a long second, Draco felt himself wishing that he was that pillow. He layed on the bed   
beside her, and got as close to her as she could, just her body heat, the sound of her breathing was making him feel more   
comfortable. Taking the risk of her waking up, he ran his hand along her back only stopping when a breezy groan came from   
her lips. He hoped he had not woken her up, but instaed she rolled over, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head   
on his chest, just above his heart beat  
  
And Draco felt comfortable, almost instantly falling asleep.  
  
*****  
  
Hermione snuggled into her pillow, trying to get more sleep, but her pillow felt different this morning, it was bigger,   
smoother, and moving. Her eyes snapped open.  
  
"Draco" She whispered to herself when she realised who was sharing her bed. She was going to wake him up, but he looked like  
he needed the sleep. He was a different Draco to her now, his body was beaten and bruised, his skin was pale, and there was   
some thing about his eyes, something haunting him.  
  
Hermione wished that he would tell her what happened, surely if he trusted her enough to get in her bed half way through the  
night, she would trust him with what happened...unless...  
  
For the first time since Draco had arrived on her doorstep, she realised that what ever had happened to him, it was serious.   
Why else would he go to her? He wouldn't hide out in the muggle world unless it was a life and death situation.  
  
"What's going on with you Draco...I wish you would tell me" She whispered, stroking his pale cheek. She watched as his   
bandaged chest rose and fell with even breaths.   
  
She tried to roll off of the bed, but his arm was wrapped tightly around her hip. A chill went through her body, he was   
clinging to her like he was afraid to let go but she wriggled out of his grasp and sat, watching him sleep.  
  
Her fingers lingered on the skin of his chest, just aching to undo his bandages and check his cuts, any excuse to   
'accendently' wake him uo and talk to him. Her fingers won and she slowly pulled off ont of the bandages, running her   
finger along the side of the deep cut, he had begun to heal, the wound was closing up, but until he told some one what had   
happened, he would never heal completely, for his heart would always be torn.  
  
Hermione moved to the next bandage, ripping it from his skin quickly to avoid the pain, but this time, Draco did wake up.  
  
"Crap Hermione, cant you see I am sleeping here" He shot grumpily.  
  
"In my bed, mind you" She replied, Draco looked around the room and started blushing.  
  
"Yeah, sorry about that, I couldn't sleep and I wanted to talk to you..."Draco began  
  
"Hey, Its cool, it was just a little shock, if some one would have told me that one day I would wake up in Malfoys arms,   
I never would have believed it...but now I can brag" Hermione smiled and inspected the next cut.  
  
"Well, I am sorry" He replied  
  
"So...you said you wanted to talk about some thing" She prompted, she hoped that he would finally tell her what had happened   
to him.  
  
"It is not important" He mumbled  
  
"Draco...it is important, and if you dont want to talk about it now, I am here for you when you do ok" She smiled and then   
stood, picking up the dirty bandages.  
  
"Go have a shower, I'll make breakfast" Hermione told him and then left him alone in the bedroom. He sighed and collapsed   
onto the bed again.  
  
*****  
  
He closed his eyes and let the hot water run over his body, soothing his cuts and relaxing his muscles. Why had he told her   
it was not important? the reson he had gone to her room was to tell her what he had been through, but then this morning when  
she had asked, he had closed down, not wanting to tell her any thing.  
  
He could trust her, he knew that he could. But he was afraid that she would treat him different because of what happened.   
  
Draco needed to get it all off of his chest. And he would do it now while he still had the nerve. He quickly dried himself   
and dressed and then moved downstairs. He waited out side the kitchen and watched as she moved around the table, preparing   
things for breakfast.  
  
But then she stopped and looked at him, their eyes meeting and boring into eaco other,  
  
"Death eaters did this to me" He began sadly, Hermione just nodded.  
  
********************  
  
ohhh, we get his story next chapter  
  
I love cliff hangers, dont you 


	5. You talk, I'll listen

Hello every one  
  
i hope that you enjoy this installment of the fic  
  
DISCLAIMER: I dont own these characters  
  
********************  
  
"Death eaters did this to me" He began sadly, Hermione just nodded. She moved to his side and took his shaking hand in hers,  
abandoning her breakfast plans and led him to the lounge room, Draco sat and got a little more comfortable before he started  
again.  
  
"They wanted me to join them, they were preparing me for the dark mark, they had prepared my father ritual room and they had  
already begun the ceremony. usually when the ceremoine has begun, it can not be finished with out a new inductee or a   
sacrifice." Draco told her, Hermione squeezed his hand reassuringly as he stared at the floor. When he looked up, there were  
tears lining his eyes.  
  
"i dont want to be one of them, not now, not ever" he glared at the floor again, his anger prtrayed in his eyes.  
  
"And you dont have to be" Hermione whispered, running her hand down his arm.  
  
"They wanted me to join them,but I went against them and I said no" Draco informed Hermione.   
  
"But..."  
  
"But they would not take no for an answer, they tied me up and forced the dark mark into my arm, I fought it as much as I   
could" He explained, holding out his wrist which was red and lightly marked. Hermione let her fingers lightly graze the   
sensitive skin.  
  
"I healed it on the way out of the house, it was bleeding pretty bad" He told her, a tear escaping his eyes and sliding down  
his cheek. Hermione wiped it off. She was holding back tears of her own, she never understood how parents could be so   
unloving to their children.  
  
"That's not all is it?" She asked, Draco shook his head and wiped away the tears that were running down his face, he wanted   
to tell her every thing, he knew that if he didn't he would go crazy, he needed to get everything off of his chest.  
  
"When I said no...they said that I needed to be punished, they said that they would teach me a lesson, teach me not to go   
against the dark lord" He whispered hoarsly, fighting the tears that continued to run. Hermione ran her fingers softly   
through his hair and pulled him into a tight hug, letting his cry into her shoulder.  
  
"It's ok Draco, just let it out" She whispered and he cried louder, his whole body shaking with the power of his sobs. She   
whispered in his ear, soothing him with her words.  
  
"They...they tried to rape me" Draco mumbled into her shoulder. Hermione tensed, did she really just hear what she thought she  
heard?  
  
"They tried to rape me...and Lucius just watched, almost encouraging them" he added, Hermione pulled his face away from her   
neck and held his cheeks, looking deep into his eyes. There was pain, so much pain in his eyes, she could hardly bare to   
look at him, but she stroked his cheek and silently begged for him to go on.  
  
"They had knives, and they cut me, they cut me when I fought against them, they spat on me, they called me a muggle lover and  
they beat me, they said I need to be punished" He told her.  
  
"I was so scared Hermione, I was really scared, and that was a weird thing, because I am hardly ever scared, my arm was   
bleeding really bad and I was going dizzy, They were scratching at me, shoving their knives into me while I tried to get   
away from them. They were trying to wrap me in chains, to restrain me. I remember screaming to my father, telling him to get  
his so called friends away from me...he didn't, he just stood by a watched, i heard him say i deserved it" Draco explained,   
finally begining to get his tears under controll.  
  
"How...how did you get away from them?" Hermione asked hesitantly, she had been reluctant to ask questions because she was   
afriad he would stop re telling his story.  
  
"I attacked a few of the death eaters, Crabbe's dad, he was a part of the induction ceremony, he had already cut himself to   
add his blood to the cauldron, I applied pressure to his cut and then stole his knife, I managed to stab a few people on my   
way out." He explained shakily. "I feel so guilty, what if I hurt some one, seriously hurt them, I dont want to be a murderer,  
that would be worse then being one of them."  
  
"But you got away, sometimes you have to do things that are not proud of in order to keep yourself alive, they were making   
you do things you didn't want to do, they were taking advantage of you, they could have killed you. But you got away and you  
came to me, you came here for my help" She whispered, still stroking his cheek. He sat silently, thinking for a few minutes  
about what she had said, and he had to admit that she had a point, if he had not of hurt other, he would have died.  
  
"And you saved me, you didn't have to, but you saved me" he whispered thankfully.  
  
"I would have done it for any one.." she replied modestly. She realised that she was still holding his face in her hands.   
Her fingers began to explore the soft, pale skin. She had to admit that he was an attractive guy, even with his body all cut   
open. She inwardly gronded and slapped herself, she could not believe she had just admitted that. Three days earlier she   
hated him, and now, she was sitting in her living room, almost sitting on his lap, watching him cry and thinking thoughts   
that would shock the pants of Harry and Ron. She let go of his face and glanced around the room nervously.  
  
"But you are ok now...I will keep you safe...I am gonna make breakfast" She said and left the room again.  
  
Draco watched her leave, and he had the strangest feeling that there was some thing wrong with her...now it would be his turn  
to find out what.   
  
*****  
  
Later that afternoon, Hermione and Draco sat in the living room, Draco flipping through all of the channels on muggle TV, it   
had taken a few minutes for hermione to teach him how to use the remote but now he had the hang of it.  
  
Hermione however was not looking at the television, she was watching Draco closely, drinking in all of his movements, the way  
his eye brows rose when he found some thing interesting, the way he used his familar smirk when ever some thing was funny,   
the way his jaw dropped when he reached the scrambled adult chanel. Hermione felt as thoughs she was meeting Malfoy for the   
first time, he was so different, she couldn't keep her eys off of him.  
  
"Were you not taught that it is rude to stare at people" Draco asked, not turning away from the cartoon on the tv screne.  
  
"I am sorry" she muttered, looking away nervously.  
  
"Are you disgusted with me?" Draco asked  
  
"No, what Draco...why would I be?" Hermione asked  
  
"You have not spoken to me since I told you my story this morning, it just seems you are being silent for a reason" he   
observed and Hermione mentally kicked herself for not being more talkitive during the day, but her thoughts from that   
morning were haunting her. She could not believe that a part of her was begining to like Draco as more than a friend.  
  
"Yeah, sorry about that" Hermione smiled  
  
"No, it's cool, i know when I am being pitied" He replied and went back to casually flipping the chanels.  
  
"I dont pity you" Hermione told him strongly.  
  
"And I believed that you didn't up untill you left to make breakfast, I understand why you would pity me" Draco continued   
  
"Draco, would you stop talking like that, i do not pity you" Hermione exclaimed  
  
"The what's up with you?" He asked, dropping the remote and turning to face her.  
  
"There is nothing wrong with me, I was just thinking" She told him  
  
"What were you thinking about?" Draco asked   
  
"My parents ok, I was thinking about how I am lucky to have parents who love me" Hermione lied, she hoped that he had brought  
the lie, it was the best she could come up with on such short notice.  
  
"Yeah, must be nice" he muttered sadly.  
  
"Oh, i am sorry draco, I didn't mean to make you think of what happened" She appologised  
  
"It's ok, i dont have parents any more" He replied and busied himself with the television again.  
  
********************  
  
ok, so this chapter was weird for me to write (dont ask me why)  
  
Dont worry, in the new chapters, Draco will turn back into the quick witted, super sexy boy he always was  
  
READ AND REVIEW 


	6. bath towels and tea towels

DISCLAIMR: I dont own them...sob, sob sob  
  
A/N: ummm, I guess I hope that you enjoy this one  
  
********************  
  
Hermione rolled over in bed and tried to go back to sleep, but the sunlight was to bright in her room, and she knew she would  
never get her dream back. She had had the dream again, the dream that she had had every night for the last week. The dream   
in which Draco was doing the gardening, muggle style. In the dream he was shirtless, his perfect white skin slowly being   
browned in the summer sunlight, the sweat running off of his strong arms, straining with effort, licking his salty lips.  
  
"Hermione, get a grip" She whispered and hit herself softly. She couldn't believe that those sort of dreams were cutting into  
her sleeping time. Hermione never would have believed her own thoughts if she had not been living with him the last few weeks.   
  
There was something new about Draco. Part of her wished that she had taken the time to get to know him from the begining. he   
was a great person, sure, now that the whole death eater incident was behind them he was bact to his snappy witty self, but   
there was something else. During the year when they were at Hogwart's, they were never that nice to each other, but now they  
were friends, and she was glad.  
  
There was one thing that she couldn't stop thinking about. Would it be any different between the two of them when they had   
to go back to school? Would they still be friends? What would Harry and Ron say? What would they do?  
  
The only thing that she could do would do is take one day at a time, they were only three weeks into the summer and with any  
luck, Hermione would not see the others for a long time. She wouldn't have to deal with it for a little while.  
  
She got out of the bed slowly and moved to the mirror. Hermione looked at her reflection, the same old reflection that she   
saw every morning, the same reflection she had seen every morning for the last 16 years. She never thought that she was any   
thing special, she would look at herself, and nothing would strike her as interesting. She had felt that way her whole life.   
Caring more about books than her looks made her that way. Sure, she could be like the other girls at her school, but that   
wasn't her. As much as she hated to admit it, she was just Hermione, simple, bookworm Hermione. She knew she was wasting her  
time liking Draco...he would never want her, they may have been friends now, but he was still a Malfoy and she was still a   
mudbllod...it would never work out between them, even if he did feel the same way.  
  
But Hermione didn't quite know how she felt. Was it just a crush? or was it more? She had no idea. She had never been in love  
but maybe, just maybe, the tight rumbling in her stomach, the light headedness, the lack of breath when ever he was around,  
it had to mean some thing.  
  
There was movement in the hallway and Hermione stopped to listen. The shower was running, he had beat her to the shower once   
again. Making her bed, Hermione fought the earge to think about him, in the bathroom across the hall, naked, the water   
running down his built quidditch seekers chest, running lower to...  
  
"Stop it Granger" Hermione scolded herself and took a deep breath, this was getting beyond a joke, every spare second being   
dedicated to her thinking of him. Breakfast...breakfast would help her keep her mind off of him, she could go and busy   
herself with breakfast. She moved the the door in order to enter the hall.  
  
But she bumped into something...or some one. Looking up into the face of Draco, she blushed the brightest shade red   
imaginable to the human body. He had a towel wrapped around his slender waist, and that was all he was wearing. Hermione   
couldn't keep her eyes off of his body.  
  
"Umm, can I help you Granger?" He asked playfully  
  
"Huh...what sorry" Hermione muttered as she tried to regain some of her composure. She turned and walked towards the stairs,   
but Draco's arm grabbed hers and pulled her back to him.  
  
"I do believe that I deserve an appology" He smiled wickedly. Hermione heart was beating faster. He was still naked, that   
small peice of cloth coving him.  
  
"I am sorry" She managed to choke before turning and fleeing the hallway as quickly as possible.  
  
*****  
  
Draco stood in front of the mirror in his room and looked over his body. He lightly traced the scar from that night. That   
night three weeks ago. In the days that followed, Draco had realised that there was one thing good to come from that night,   
his friendship with Hermione.  
  
He wasn't sure how he felt about Hermione now. She was a great friend, and they had spent a lot of time together, but other   
than that he wasn't sure.  
  
He also wasn't blind. He saw the way Hermione looked at him (at first he thought it was a look of pity, but he had since   
realised that it had a stong sence of desire to it.) It seemed that she hardly ever took her eyes off of him, and he was   
flattered. he would have been lying to himself if he didn't admit that he found Hermione attractive. There was just   
something about her, the way she thought about things and the way that she saw things.  
  
All he had to say to himself was that he was evil. He had been planning the little hallway incident all night. He didn't   
know why, but he just wanted to see how she would react to him. She reacted just as he had planned, and he had even reacted   
a little to.  
  
After sliding on some clothes (he was still wearing Mr Grangers clothes) he went down stairs to the kitchen. Hermione was   
there, eating her sugar coated ceral and reading the daily prophet. She blushed as she saw him enter and then burried her   
nose further into the newspaper.  
  
"What's up with you" Draco asked as he pulled the milk and cereal to him.  
  
"Huh?" Hermione asked  
  
"Oh, it is just that you would have said some thing silly by now...what's going on?" He asked again and took some pleasure   
in the fact that she was blushing again. He hid his smirk behind his hand.  
  
"Nothing is going on with me" She replied, turning the page and then reading again. Draco looked at the bowl on the table and  
tried not to laugh, she was so pretty when she was nervous. Wait...did he just think that she was pretty.  
  
"Any thing interesting in the news?" Draco asked, all of a sudden, he felt nervous, almost as if his feelings had hit him   
like a lightning bolt.  
  
"Just and article on Harry" She mumbled  
  
"Harry, why the hell is he in the paper?" Draco asked  
  
"Never a day goes by that Harry isn't mentioned in some way, shape or form, he is every ones golden boy" Hermione explained  
  
"you seem kind of bitter" Draco obsvered.  
  
"Not bitter, it is just...no matter how many times Ron and I help Harry fight against Voldemort, we never even get a mention"  
She smiled sadly. "But I guess that doesn't matter, no body wants to hear a story about the friends of the boy who lived"  
  
"Dont worry, you'll get a mention sooner or later" Draco smiled.  
  
"More than likely later" she groaned and stood, taking her dirty bowl to the sink. She went to run the tap, but accidently   
dropped the bowl.  
  
"Aww, crap" She whispered and bent down to pick up the peices of the shattered dish. Out of the corner of her eye she saw   
Draco move to her side.  
  
"you are a clumsy one aint you" He joked, scopping up some of the peices.  
  
"Dont you start on me Malfoy...ouch" She looked down at her hand and saw that it was bleeding. A fragment of the dish had cut   
her hand open.  
  
"I guess it is my turn to clean up your cuts" Draco whispered and gently took her wrist in his hand, pulling her up so that   
he could wash the cut in the sink. She winced as the cold water hit the open cut.  
  
"Wimp" He muttered  
  
"Oh shut up...I knew I shouldn't have joked with you when you were injured, it is all coming back to haunt me right?" She   
asked  
  
"Exactly" He muttered and then wrapped the nearest tea towel around the cut. After taking a deep breath, Draco pulled her   
hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it lightly. Her breath caught and their eyes met.  
  
"Thankyou" She whispered, Draco nodded and ran his hand over her cheek, brushing her hair out of her face. Hermione's eyes   
fluttered shut as his lips moved closer to hers. Lips pressed against lips as they shared their first kiss.  
  
"Mmmmm" He moaned as they pulled away, but before Hermione opened her eayes, his lips were back on hers again. This kiss was   
more passionate than the last and Draco took dominance, devouring her mouth fully. He hands moved to his neck untill...  
  
"What the hell is going on here" The voice interupted their passionate embrace. Hermione and Draco pushed away from each   
other and then looked around the room nervously.  
  
********************  
  
3 guess who it is!!!!  
  
Ah, a cliff hanger  
  
any way, i'll update soon 


	7. I can explain everthing

The next chapter...lets go  
Sorry if there are some spelling istakes, I am really tired so just deal with them  
  
********************  
  
"What the hell is going on here" The voice interupted their passionate embrase. Hermione and Draco pushed each other away and   
looked around the room nervously.  
  
"Dad, i can explain everything" Hermione began as the outraged Mr Granger ventured into the kitchen.   
  
"You better bloody well explain...and make it good young lady" Mr Granger exclaimed, shooting draco a dirty look.  
  
"Dad, this is a friend of mine from school..."She began to nervously explain. Her father had hardly even looked at Draco.  
  
"Why is he here? why is he in my kitchen...with my daughter" Mr Granger growled  
  
"Umm, that is my fault Mr Granger, sir, I needed some where to stay" Draco interupted, stepping into the heated conversation.  
  
"Excuse me son, but I do believe that I was talking to my daughter, not you...So answer my question Hermione, what is he   
doing here?" He asked again, his intense gaze burning into Hermione.  
  
"Nothing dad, he just needed a place to stay, so I offered him the guest bedroom" Hermione explained, trying to sound as   
innocent as possible.  
  
"Well, I do have to say that you are becoming quite a disappointment, first with the whole wizarding army scandal, and now   
this, staying at home, alone, with a boy...quite a disappointment." Mr Granger shook his head at his daughter. Draco tensed,  
he could not believe that Mr Granger had said that, he was lucky to have a daughter like that.  
  
"Dont call her that" Draco growled at Mr Granger who stood shocked.  
  
"What" Was all he could manage.  
  
"She is not a disappointment, don't say that she is" Draco replied coldly and stood a little straighter, almost as if he was   
challanging Mr Granger.  
  
"Draco, dont do anything stupid" hermione turned to him and ran her hand down his arm soothingly, Draco relaxed again.  
  
"Draco...where do I know that name from?" Mr Granger pondered out loud. After 16 years of life, Hermione knew how to trace   
her fathers line of thought, which meant, that she had 5 seconds to change the subject while he was thinking.  
  
"Where's mum?" Hermione asked  
  
"Getting the bags" hermione's father replied, still straining to remember if he knew any one named Draco.  
  
"Oh...we will go help then" hermione grinned and took Draco's hand to lead him out of the kitchen.  
  
"Not so fast young lady, come back and sit down" he exclaimed.  
  
"What is it now daddy?" Hermione asked innocently, she fluttered her eyelids and pretended to act like a little kid.  
  
"Hermione dear, I am home" Mrs Granger called, entering the kitchen. She paused when she felt the tense mood in the room.  
  
"What is going on in here? Who is this?" Mrs Granger asked, looking between the two teenagers.  
  
"This" Mr Granger spat "Is the boy that our daughter has been 'shacking up' with for the last three weeks"  
  
"Dad" hermione exclaimed, standing abruptly.  
  
"Believe me, Mr Granger...there was no 'shacking'" Draco interupted, also standing.  
  
"MALFOY!!!... I just remembered where I have heard that name before, you are Draco Malfoy" Said Mr Granger as though he had   
made a world changing discovery.  
  
"Malfoy, oh dear, Molly Weasley has warned me about the Malfoy's" Hermione's mother added, standing behind her husband,   
almost as though he could protect her from the big bad Malfoy.  
  
"Mum, he is not like that" Hermione exclaimed  
  
"And you would know" Mr Granger mumbled under his breath.  
  
"Dad, I can't believe you, he is a guest in out house" Hermione growled at her father.  
  
"An uninvited guest?" He asked her  
  
"Yes, uninvited, but he needed my help, he had know where else to go" hermione told her parents.  
  
"Ha. And you believed that? I thought that you were smarter than that Hermione, 16 year old boys will tell you any thing to   
get what they want" Mr Granger spat.  
  
"I would never" Draco began.  
  
"What...go on, tell us, you owuld never what?" Mr Granger asked angrily.  
  
"i would never take advantage of your daughter" He finished truthfully.  
  
"Then what were you doing when I came in?" Mr Granger asked. A look of amusement flashed across his face as the teenagers   
realised that the truth could not help them.  
  
"They were kissing" Mr Granger said, mainly for his wife's benifit.  
  
"Hermione, you were kissing him?" Mrs granger asked, she sounded shocked.  
  
"Mum, I am 16, not 6" She replied, she hated it when her mother treated her like a little kid.  
  
"What else have the two of you done?" Mrs Granger asked  
  
"Nothing" Both Hermione and Draco replied honestly. Mrs Granger whispered some thing in her husbands ear. Hermione shot Draco  
a nervous glance.  
  
"I am going to ask you to leave my house, and to leave my daughter alone" Mr Granger told Draco  
  
"Dad, no, he has no where else to go" Hermione exclaimed  
  
"That is none of my concern" Mr Granger replied.  
  
"Well, I guess that is it...Mr Granger, Mrs Granger, that you for your hospitality...Hermione, sorry if I got you in trouble"  
Draco said sarcastically and then made his way to the door.  
  
"Draco wait" Hermione called and ran out of the room after him. She took his arm with her badly bandaged hand and span him   
around to face her.  
  
"You should go and get your mother to clean that up for you" Draco whispered, carefully stroking the back of her hand.  
  
"Screw that, Where are you going to go" Hermione asked.  
  
"I dont know, but I wont be going home" Draco reminded her, she reached out and stroked his cheek lovingly.  
  
"I am sorry about all this" She whispered  
  
"Hey, dont be, i would have died that night if it wasn't for what you did" Draco informed  
  
"But you may die now" hermione told him.  
  
"Why?" She asked sadly.  
  
"Well, i got to kiss you, didn't I?" Draco joked and Hermione laughed. When he laughter was under controll again, a tear ran  
down her cheek.  
  
"Dont you dare start crying on me Granger" Draco began, pulling Hermione into a hug.  
  
"Just look after yourself ok" Hermione whispered  
  
"Hey...Kings cross station, platform 9 3/4, september 1st" Draco promised.  
  
"September 1st...but if you need me, ever" She added  
  
"You'll be the first to know...and if you need me?" He asked  
  
"I'll find you" Hermione smiled  
  
"I should really go" Draco whispered  
  
"Yeah, I know" Hermione replied "Be careful" draco kissed her lightly on the forhead before disappearing down the driveway.   
Hermione turned and moved back into the house.  
  
"I cant believe that you did that" Hermione yelled at her father.  
  
"I cnt believe that you invited him to stay" Mr Granger replied.  
  
"You know nothing about him, he ran away from his abusive father and came here for my help...and you kicked him out" She   
yelled.  
  
"He'll manage" Hermione's mother replied  
  
"No, he wont, he is pure blood, surely you knew that...you just signed his death warrant" Hermione exclaimed and then ran up  
the stairs. She knew her parents would leave her be for a little bit, so she found one of the shirts that Draco had worn,   
and wrapped herself up in it, soon after, she fell asleep.  
  
*****  
  
The sound of rocks hitting glass awoke Hermione some time later. She had been asleep the whole day, because the moon was full   
out side her bedroom window.  
  
"Hermione" The voice under her window whispered loudly.  
  
"Draco, are you ok?" She asked, pushing her window open and leaning out of it.  
  
"I am fine, I was just wondering..." He began  
  
"What?" Hermione prompted.  
  
"Hermione, come with me?"  
  
********************  
  
CLIFFHANGERS dont you love em? 


	8. authours note

Hey….People…  
  
This is a quick note asking you all not to hate me…but to hate my computer instead.  
  
My computer will not let me upload and I am to embarrassed to upload any thing at school.  
  
Don't hate me, I am trying to fix it, then u will have more chaps  
  
Tara 


	9. Hermione's Answer

DISCALIMER: I do not own any of this.  
  
A/N: I have to say a huge hello to Slithering Slytherin who is helping me with my upbooting and my editing. A thousand thank you's young slytherin.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Hermione, come with me"  
  
Hermione was shocked, she honestly did not know what to say to him. Here was Draco, standing in her back yard (which was weird enough as  
  
it was) and he was asking her to run away with him. She would be lying to herself if she had said that she didn't want to go with him, but this was  
  
crazy.  
  
"Are you insane?" Hermione replied in a loud whisper.  
  
"I don't think so" Draco replied "Come with me" He repeated.  
  
"I can't run away with you, my parents would never let me go." Hermione began  
  
"Asking permission usually defies the purpose of running away...come on be spontaneous" Draco teased lightly.  
  
"But is that really such a good idea, I mean, where would we go, what would we do?" Hermione asked.  
  
"I don't know...but I am going to admit that I need you" He replied  
  
"You need me...the great all powerful Malfoy needs me" She asked sarcastically. In the limited moonlight, Hermione could swear that she saw him  
  
blushing.  
  
"Come on Granger, you know that I would not last a minute alone in the Muggle world...and I can risk going back to the magic world, my father may  
  
still be looking for me" Draco informed her.  
  
"Oh...so you just want me to look after you?" Hermione asked, she couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice.  
  
"And...you mean more to me as well" He replied, Hermione grinned  
  
"So, will you come?" Draco asked after a little bit of a pause in conversation. 'Why the hell not' Hermione screamed at herself. She was sick of  
  
being the perfect daughter and the perfect student, she wanted to take the time to be a teenager and do some thing that she should not be doing.  
  
"Gee... I don't know, I was planning on washing my hair" Hermione replied, almost laughing.  
  
"Is that your silly muggle way of saying yes?" He asked. An excited grin spread across his face.  
  
"Give me a couple of minutes to get some stuff" She smiled and then moved to pack some of the more important things that she would need to  
  
take with her. She would occasionally move back to the window and smile down at Draco, who had taken a seat under the large tree in the back  
  
yard. As she was packing, her thoughts kept moving to her parents. What would they do when they woke up in the morning and realized she was  
  
gone? Would they be angry? Sad? Would they try and track down Draco?  
  
Hermione hated doing this to her parents, her parents loved her, but she needed to do this. She needed to go out into the big bad world and  
  
experience things for herself. She needed to take this opportunity to be free, to go out there, with a guy that she cared about, and who hope fully  
  
cared about her, and experience things.  
  
Hermione wanted to understand her reasons, because she knew that they would not be that bad if they knew all of the reasons why she had run  
  
away. After packing her things she picked up  a piece of parchment and a pen and began writing.  
  
*****  
  
The stairs creaked under her light footfalls and Hermione silently cursed them, she needed to leave the house quietly, because she knew that if  
  
her parents were to wake up now. She would cave in and go back to her room, and stay in the house forever.  
  
Clutched in her hand was the parchment. The parchment that she was planning on leaving on the dining room table, so that tomorrow morning  
  
when her dad went to read the paper, he would see it first. She was confident in what she had said in the letter, which explained her need to be  
  
free from the miss conception her parents had of her.  
  
The shadows in the kitchen were dark as she approached the table. She could see out the back door and into the back yard. Draco had begun to  
  
pace the yard. His silver blonde hair glistening in the moon light. For the first time since she had  made the decision to go with him, she realized that  
  
 she was running away with the sexiest guy at Hogwarts...  
  
"I knew he would come back for you" The voice cut through the eerie silence of the house.  
  
"Dad?" Hermione squinted into the darkness. A small light shone through the window and highlighted her fathers gray hair.  
  
"I knew he would come back for you?" He repeated "And I knew you would go with him"  
  
"Dad" Hermione began, but was cut off by her father.  
  
"No, Hermione, let me finish...I knew you would go with him."  
  
"I am going with him, you cant stop me" Hermione boldly cut in.  
  
"I know, and I know that I can't stop you. I can try, and mark my words, I WILL try to stop you, but I know that I wont be able to" Mr. Granger said.  
  
"Dad, you need to understand that this is some thing that I need to do. I am 16 years old, and I have hardly ever been in trouble. I have not even  
  
been at home long enough in the last 6 years to properly rebel against you and mum..." Hermione began  
  
"So this is some sort of teenage rebellion?" He father asked calmly.  
  
"Yes...I am rebelling, but I also want to learn things. You know I am always willing to learn new things...some things can not be learnt in a  
  
classroom or from a book. I need this experience" Hermione explained. Mr. Granger nodded.  
  
"And him?"  
  
"Him...Draco....Well, I would be lying if I said that I was not attracted to him in some way." Hermione smiled  
  
"So, you have made up your mind then?...I guess no amounts of 'You don't know what you are doing' and 'you are making a big mistake, young  
  
lady' will make you change your mind." He said sadly.  
  
"Dad, I am sorry" Hermione smiled  
  
"I am not...you said you need this, and I agree, you can not learn every thing from a book." Mr. granger agreed.  
  
"You are letting me go?" She asked, shocked  
  
"I am letting you go...I give my blessing, But I have a few conditions" He replied.  
  
"Any thing, what?" Hermine asked quickly.  
  
"One, Look after yourself. Two, I will see you at platform 9 and three quarters on September 1st no exceptions. Third, If you need anything, either  
  
of you, you come right back here. Four, if her hurts you in any way, I want you back her so fast and last...I want you to take this" He smiled as he  
  
pushed a bulging envelope across the table. Hermione picked it up, it was full of money.  
  
"Daddy, no, I can't accept this" hermione began  
  
"I insist...you were going to get it any way. Your mother and I were saving to send you to Harvard, but then you got your Hogwarts letter" he began  
  
but Hermione just rushed to his side and hugged him.  
  
"Thank you Daddy, thank you for understanding" She grinned and kissed his cheek.  
  
"I guess it would be wrong of me to go and lecture Draco then?" he asked jokingly.  
  
"Don't you dare" Hermione replied then hugged him again.  
  
"I love you Hermione, and there isn't a day that you don't make me proud"  
  
"I love you to daddy" She smiled "i should go"  
  
"yeah...good luck, and if either of you ever need any thing" Mr. Granger smiled  
  
"I will come back, I understand" She hugged him yet again. She moved toward the back door, swinging her bag over her shoulder.  
  
"What are you going to tell mum?" She asked, turning back.  
  
"I'll think of some thing, off you go, I think Draco is getting impatient" Mr. Granger smiled, Hermione nodded.  
  
Mr. Granger watched as his daughter ran across the back yard and captured Draco in a light hug. After one last look at the house, Draco and  
  
Hermione disappeared onto the dark street. 


End file.
